


Tho’ I get home how late—how late

by middlemarch



Series: Mercy March [9]
Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: F/M, Marriage, Post-War, Winter, sleigh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 21:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8939818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/pseuds/middlemarch
Summary: She hadn't taken to even the smallest luxury; it had been a argument to get her to buy the bonnet she wore. But he meant to persevere.





	

“Will it be safe?” Mary asked seriously. Jed was not quite sure what sound he made in response, something like a snort, an old man’s harrumph, an exasperated exhalation he recalled his own father making.

“Molly, might I remind you, you once threw yourself into the middle of an argument with a murderous solider wildly brandishing a gun and screamed ‘Coward’ at him?”

He had other examples of what he sometimes called her bravery and other times, frank foolhardiness, a noble lack of concern that had nearly gotten her killed multiple times, but he always came back to that first day at Mansion House as the pinnacle of her fearless heart, which was not readily apparent at the moment as they stood at the front door of their Boston brownstone.

“I hardly think that is relevant, Jedediah. I’m not worried about myself, but he’s so little and it’s bitter cold,” she replied, somehow adjusting the baby in her arms to be held closer, more securely. Jed could just about make out Daniel’s face, his bright dark eyes and pink cheeks, but the rest of him was swaddled in fine woolen blankets, a knitted bonnet tied under his invisible chin, the folds of the loose outer blanket falling over Mary’s arm and across the front of her dress. He couldn’t muster the will to be annoyed any longer, looking at her in her smart fur-trimmed coat and dark bonnet lined with fashionable dahlia watered silk, the image of a modish Boston matron and fond young mother, her eyes straying to Daniel’s face quite as often as she could manage it.

“And it is an extravagance. Did you never think of the cost? I’m sure the Freemen’s Clinic could do so much good with even the price of the hire of such an elegant sleigh, let alone the purchase, though you know Sophy will never ask,” she scolded lightly.

“Imagine if I had married you for your thrift? How satisfied I should be now! Ah well, marrying for love has its compensations too,” he said, smiling at her, and leaning over to kiss her pursed lips, so sweet even when she railed, reaching a gloved finger to stroke Daniel’s plump cheek.

“Jedediah, not in the street!” she exclaimed.

“Oh Molly, how can a kiss scandalize you now—when such a short time ago, hardly anything did?” he teased. She gave him an unexpectedly arch look.

“I’m not the one scandalized—but I can’t speak for Mrs. George Cabot and she’s been watching through her front window since the sleigh came to our door,” she said. He glimpsed a pale narrow face in the neighboring brownstone’s window, like a duenna in a mantilla, eager for disgrace to appear before her.

“Shall I put your mind at ease? I have not purchased this very beautiful sleigh, nor even hired it as a treat—Dr. Thornton kindly offered to lend it when I mentioned my desire to take you on a sleigh-ride should the weather hold, so I have not short-changed the Freeman’s Clinic with my, how did you put it, ‘extravagance?’ As well, it is filled with a dozen buffalo robes and freshly filled footwarmers and I can’t think Daniel could be any cozier than he is right now. And you have always said how good fresh air is for a baby,” he said. “Cannot the bold Baroness come back, for just a little while, and send this nervous Nelly on her way? I shall not let the horses go too swiftly and we won’t stay out long.”

He saw her expression vary, her concern about her baby balancing with her desire for the sleigh ride on the brilliant winter day, the sky the enameled blue of a jewel-box, the snow preserved in its purity by the frigid air, the enticing prospect of nestling close and feeling still the wind on their faces, the little exhilaration of a proper canter’s pace. She was wavering and needed, wanted him to say something to decide her entirely.

“Molly, haven’t I shown you I know to count my blessings—and keep them safe? I should never endanger the two people I love best, not even for a very good reason, I think, let alone a simple sleigh-ride. Let me worry for you—I promise I will worry nearly as well as you do and you and Daniel may only enjoy yourselves,” he said earnestly enough that she would know he meant it, with enough wryness that she knew he was honest. The baby could tell papa was happy and crowed with it, making them both beam with pride.

“All right,” she said, acquiescing. “I should hate to waste Dr. Thornton’s generosity and I do love a sleigh ride. The sound of the bells always makes me smile,” she added. How many times had he seen her pretty mouth curve in delight at the tinkling jingle up and down the streets, a happy memory and a wish she would not make aloud but which he’d read in her eyes, the hand that pulled back their own lace curtain to peer into the twilight after the swift passage of a polished sleigh?

“I know, love.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a more winter than holiday specific response to "sleigh." I returned to my Mercy March universe, a kind place I think, and where Jed can easily secure a lovely sleigh to take his Molly out for a late afternoon spin. I did intend Dr. Thornton to remind us all of North and South, in case you were wondering. Sophy is Mary's friend who runs the Freemen's Clinic Jed works at part-time, mentioned in an earlier story. Daniel is their oldest child, though not very old here. And I think we all recall what Jed references from the show.
> 
> The title is from Emily Dickinson. Sort of shocking she doesn't have a poem which starts "The sleigh of Time" but I made do.


End file.
